As The Scent Of Hope Slips Through My Fingers
by princess86
Summary: "There's just something about him that she just can't ignore. Something in those hazel eyes that she can't neglect."


**A/N:** This story takes place in 1943 just in case anyone was curious! Anyway, I hope you enjoy! :)

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Glee or these amazing characters. They are property of Ryan Murphy and Fox.

* * *

People bring chairs and picnic baskets and are dressed in their best as they gather on Main Street. A newcomer to the tiny town of Lima, Ohio would think that everyone was waiting for the President of the United States to make is way down the street, but that is not the case at all.

Santana told her father earlier that day, while they sat at the kitchen table during breakfast, that it was absolutely animalistic what they were about to go witness. She almost refused to go but there was no arguing with her dad on the matter.

The unseasonable September heat is almost unbearable at this early hour and she feels like she's going to faint. Indian Summer, her father calls it. She follows her father and mother as they make their way down the sidewalk. She's standing with her eyes closed, fanning herself, when she hears it, the clanking and rattling of chains in the distance. The sound is getting closer and closer and she doesn't want to open her eyes but does so anyway. All she can see is dust swirling in the air and then she sees the first of the men round the corner, hands and feet shackled. Their heads are bent low, shame and embarrassment radiating off of them. Almost 200 Nazi soldiers make their way down the street, headed to the prison grounds right outside the small town.

Santana feels a tear roll down her cheek but wipes it away before anyone notices. She understands that what these men did was wrong, and in some ways horrific but that doesn't mean they should be paraded around like animals tied to a leash. She's watching these men walking past her when all of a sudden, one of them lifts his head up and looks directly at her. The pain in his hazel eyes is almost more than she can bear and she has to look away. When she looks back up, he's looking at the ground once again. He's easily the tallest of the group and Santana follows him with her eyes until she can no longer decipher his figure because the heat and the dust are too heavy in the air.

* * *

Santana walks the same dirt back road near the railroad tracks to and from school every single day. Passes the same familiar landmarks on a daily basis. She thinks nothing of the old rundown barn just a little up ahead, but what she doesn't know is that it will soon become the single, most important place in her life. She's walking right in front of the barn doors when she feels strong arms take a hold of her waist and pull her inside the building. She can't scream because a massive hand is covering her mouth so, she kicks and struggles instead.

"Ich werde mich nicht, dich zu verletzen," he whispers in her ear as he slowly removes his hand from her mouth. He lets go of her and she turns to look at him. Their eyes meet and suddenly all fear leaves her body. Those eyes. She would recognize those hazel eyes anywhere. Those hazel eyes she saw almost two weeks ago, filled with so much pain.

"I don't... I don't understand what you're saying," she stutters nervously.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he answers in English. A thick accent, but never the less, English.

"You must help me. You're the only one who can help me."

"And what makes you think I can help you?" She answers a little more confidently this time.

"Because you were the only person I saw that day. And the only person I've seen everyday since then."

* * *

She's lying in bed that night, his face embedded in her mind. She agreed to help him. She doesn't know why she agreed to help an escaped German Soldier get out of this town, but she did anyway. She knows she's breaking the law but oddly enough, she doesn't care because there's just something about him that she just can't ignore. Something in those hazel eyes that she can't neglect.

* * *

She drops off food for him twice a day, everyday and sometimes, in the afternoon, she lingers longer than she should. She's intrigued by him. She learns his name the day after she agrees to help him.

"Finn Hudson," he says. She tells him it doesn't sound very German and he says it's because his father was English. His parents met right after the Great War and had him a few years later. He tells her that his dad died when he was a baby and that it's just been his mom and him, living in a small town in Germany.

Every time they talk, Santana learns something new about him. Like, how his favorite color is blue or that his favorite time of year is autumn because the German countryside becomes a world of yellows, oranges and reds. And that he gets the most lonely when the sun is going down because that's when he and his mom used to drink tea. And the reason he learned English, was because his mother paid for him to learn the language when he was a little boy, because maybe one day it would come in handy.

He asks her one day early in the morning when she stops by before school, if they're still looking for him.

"No," she answers. "They think you're long gone. Which is good for me because my parents aren't so cautious of where I am every second of the day." He just smiles at her and somehow, that brightens up her whole day.

* * *

The days are getting shorter and the autumn chill seeps in through the cracks of the old barn house so she brings him a couple of blankets she was able to sneak out of the house. She watches him eat leftover pot roast that her mom made the day before, as they sit huddled under a blanket in a corner.

"So, why did you decide to help me?" He asks in between bites.

"Because you're not a bad person. You might have done some things, that in our eyes weren't good, but you have a good heart. I can see it when you talk about your home, when you talk about your mother. I can see it in your eyes."

She's taken by surprise when his lips touch hers but then realizes that she's wanted this since the first time she spoke with him.

"Du bist schön," he says once they've broken apart for air. He notices the confused look on her face and lets out a chuckle. "You are beautiful," he clarifies. Santana smiles and all she can think of doing is kissing him again so, she does. Until she can see the fireflies dancing through the cracks in the walls, she kisses him.

* * *

He tells her he has to leave soon one afternoon as she runs her fingers through his hair, his head on her lap.

"How soon is soon?"

"Three days," he says. He's watched the trains at night, memorizing their schedules by the position of the moon in the night sky.

"Okay." She nods her head and tries to hide the fact that this news is breaking her heart. She knows that him leaving was inevitable but she doesn't want him to. She wants him to stay here with her forever because she's in love with him. She's fallen head over heels in love with him.

* * *

"How do you say I love you in German?" She's underneath him, the heat of his body surrounding her.

"Ich liebe dich." She repeats it and kisses him until she can't breath.

He leaves tomorrow and she wishes she could make this last night with him last forever but instead, he makes love to her and whispers just things for them to know in her ear.

* * *

She waits until her parents are asleep to sneak out of her bedroom window and runs until her lungs burn. She gets to the rundown barn just as he's walking out. He takes her in his arms and doesn't let go. The train is due to pass by any minute and she can't help the tears that are running down her face.

"Why are you crying?" he asks.

"Because I wish you didn't have to go."

"I have fallen in love with you, Santana and I wish I didn't have to leave you. I wish I could give you a beautiful life, one that you deserve, but I can't. I want you to know that I will always carry you in my heart and you will never be far from my thoughts. I want you to be happy wherever life may take you. Promise me you'll find happiness with someone who can give you the life that I can't. Please, promise me that Santana."

"I promise," she says as more tears fill her eyes. They hear the faint train whistles in the distance. Her hold on him tightens and she can feel the feather light kisses he leaves on her hair. They can see the train now and he kisses her one last time before he lets go of her completely. He makes his way to one of the moving freight cars and just as he's about to get in, he yells above the noise, "Ich liebe dich."

"I love you, too." And just like that he's gone. Though her heart is broken, she doesn't feel as sad as she thought she would. She knows it's because she'll see him again one day. She can feel it in her heart.


End file.
